03/05/09 to 03/14/09

03/05/09 to 03/14/09 We’ve done some land travel in the last week and a half. Had to go home to PA for medical and dental appointments, getting income tax info together, etc., so we rented a car and set out from Fort Myers at 4 AM on March 5. By about 5 PM, we arrived at the home of friends and fellow Loopers Gary and Judy in Tabor City, NC. We spent the evening catching up on events, including Gary’s recent knee surgery, but it was early to bed and early to rise for Thursday’s travel (thank you both for getting up to see us off at 4 AM, Gary and Judy). By early afternoon, we entered PA, and went to our daughter Barb’s home for a quick visit. Then it was onward to daughter Becky, who had venison steaks ready for supper. Another short drive on the PA turnpike and we were at our own home, which looked pretty good to us.
The first weekend in March was beautiful at home–sunny and unexpectedly warm. The ground was soggy, though, so we waited until later in the week to work in the flower beds and do other outdoor chores. Throughout the week, we went to our appointments, including a couple of extras when Bob experienced severe back pain one morning. One evening, our family held our early spring birthday get-together for the five of us with March and April birthdays (Katie, Bobby, Becky, Barb, Lois). Lois had already had her free birthday dinner at Shady Maple smorgasbord earlier in the week.
On Sunday, March 15, we started southward again, stopping in Brunswick, GA, for the night. Unfortunately, we forgot about the shuttle launch scheduled for that evening or we might have driven for another hour to try to see it. Monday was a more leisurely day. We had time to make a couple stops, one at Don’s Boat Salvage near Clearwater, another at the Clearwater Marina to see if any boaters we knew were there. Then we met our friends Michael and Anne Marie, who were near Clearwater vacationing with some of Anne’s family. Bob and Michael worked together at Koch/Plains in Schaefferstown. When we got on the road again, it was just a couple hours to Fort Myers and our home away from home.

Key Largo & Key West visit

Logger Head Trutle

This Friendship is sealed with a kiss

Can't go farther south

Lois has taken this ride to it's limit

Wyland painted this building with spray gun

02/28/09 We are back from a three day car trip to the Florida Keys with Lorenzo and Lois. First stop was Key Largo to meet up with Dave, Kathy, and Bill aboard Cats Cradle. The next day all of us set out for Key West, 95 miles to the southwest, to see the sights. There were , as always, plenty of souvenir shops and restaurants. At the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, we saw displays of gold bars, coins, jewelry and many other items recovered from the shipwrecked galleon "Atocha". We looked in the gift gallery, but did not buy once we saw prices for some of the gold coins and other things from the Atocha’s treasure. A long walk down Duval Street brought us to the southernmost point in the continental United States. There was a line of people waiting to have their pictures taken at the marker there and strangers exchanged cameras readily to do so. As we walked back toward the center of the city, we made stops at an ice cream store and then an art gallery featuring the work of Robert Wyland (wyland.com), known for large murals of marine life done on buildings. In the gallery there were prints of his work and his sculptures of marine animals, all impressive. There’s still lots to see on future visits to Key West.
On another day, we went to the "Theater of the Sea" in Islamorada, a small, well-kept facility featuring dolphins, sea lions, and tropical birds and fish. At the sea lion show, our friend Bill was among those chosen to get up close and receive a kiss from "Mimi", the sea lion. Lois J. teased him that he and Mimi looked alike, due to the facial hair on each of them.